Goodwill Dresser Makeover

I was having trouble finding a dresser for the guest bedroom. I wanted wood, not painted, but I didn’t want to spend a bunch of moolah as trying to be somewhat thrifty. Me thrifty – an oxymoron I know but the house projects are endless and sucking up cash faster than I can make it. After watching others turn trash to treasure I though maybe I could do the same. Of course my family all thought I was CRAZY. But lo and behold the first Goodwill I tried (Goodwill in Council Bluffs where I have dumped endless sacks of donations since home) had just what I wanted.

It had the structure I wanted, good quality wood, and the right size. Obviously it was a bit ugly - especially the handles and scratched up top.


But it was a steal at just $39.99 (on sale from $79.99). I actually almost asked for more of a discount due to my donations as of late but figured that would look mega cheap.

I layered on a stain removing product (which of course ended up on my face and in my eye and stung like mad) and I sanded. Man is that hard work! Had I had more patience, time, and energy I would have sanded better but I am a big fan of the good enough method. Next up was the fun part of re-staining with a new dark color. I used stain/poly mix and I thought it worked great. But next time may use just stain and finish with poly. I have been told I should have used steel wool again at the end and maybe more poly? Who knows – again the good enough method works for me. I bought the hardware at Menards. Overall I am very happy with the finished product.


And it fits perfectly in the little nook of the guest bedroom (this used to be open to the dinning from what I can gather). Looking forward to a few more refinishing projects in the future.